We went through our Reviews Index to find out which cameras deliver great 17×22 inch prints at ISO 6400.
One of the biggest things we test for with High ISO Output from cameras is how well the images print at 17×22 inches. Sure, everything looks great on a computer screen or on your phone at ISO 6400. And in terms of practicality, there is no good reason to pixel peep your images; your clients sure aren’t. They care about how the images will look on their wall when printed large. Printing is sometimes seen as a forgotten art, but if you think about how much joy it brings a photographer to see their images become manifest, then you’ll understand why high ISO output can be very important. So we went through the Reviews Index and our own printed image samples to see how they all stacked up to one another.
Sony a7 III
In our review, we state:
“At ISO 3200 and above, you’re still going to get some very clean results – arguably more so than with the Sony a7r III. However, you’re not going to get the details the Sony a7r III can render, but you’re going to get far cleaner high ISO output. I’d make large prints of these images on matte paper at 17×22 inches. But on glossy, you’ll probably get some significant detail loss that’s going to look like smearing.”
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Sony a7r III
In our review, we state:
“The Sony a7r III RAW files are fantastic when it comes to high ISO output. I’ve made great 17×22 inch prints from the Sony a7r III at ISO 6400, and I can surely make something a bit smaller at say 8×10 with no troubles. That means that if the images are going on the web then ISO 6400 is fantastic, though even with noise reduction off, there are some details that surely do get missed. Luckily, this is a 42MP full frame camera and with good glass, you’ll hopefully get those details back.”
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Leica M10
In our review, we state:
“…this photo came out looking pretty spectacular. The noise that is there looks digital vs being film-like, but it isn’t displeasing at all. It looks the same way that it would on a calibrated computer display. You’re surely losing a bit of details if you inspect the print closely but if you look at it from the recommended viewing distance, you’re not going to believe that it was shot at ISO 6400.”
Buy Now: Amazon
Fujifilm XT3
In our review, we state:
“…and as you can see, it’s a perfectly usable image. I could certainly pull up the shadows a bit more, but I like the contrast and moodiness in the image as is.”
Buy Now $1,399.99: Amazon
Fujifilm XF10
In our review, we state:
“…we printed it at 17×22 inches. The results? They were clean–almost Nikon Z7 clean. The only flaws that we were able to see were when we got super close up to the photo. Amazing, huh?”
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Canon EOS R
In our review, we state:
“Considering the results that I’m getting at higher ISOs, I can’t really complain here. The image noise is clean enough for me in most situations. If you’re pushing more than one stop, then you’re going to start to introduce noise that you don’t really want. Part of this is why I say that you should shoot as close to your creative vision in-camera as possible with the Canon EOS R.”
Buy Now: Amazon
Nikon Z6
In our review, we state:
“When it comes to the high ISO output on the Nikon z6, we’re very positive that the 24MP Full frame sensor at the heart of the camera will produce images that you’re going to be absolutely fine with when posting to the web. At ISO 6400, the images render pretty clean–especially when downsized for the web. This isn’t at all an issue.”
Buy Now: Amazon
Nikon Z7
In our review, we state:
“In our printing tests, we made a large print at 17×22 inches and found that on Canon’s Plus Semi-Gloss paper the Nikon z7 produces some surprisingly good results. When you view the 17×22 inch paper from a distance that it is really meant to be viewed at and combine this with proper lighting for a semi-gloss paper, you get a very pleasing result that shows off the sharpness of the Nikon z7’s sensor and their 35mm f1.8 lens. However, when you come in close it’s evident that there is color noise–though it isn’t that awful and it’s only really in certain areas. We chose this paper because it will show the results of high ISO output much better than a matte paper would. In fact, matte paper would hide and embrace the results. But straight out of the camera except with a bit of color adjustment, we began to see some image noise even on the screen of the iMac that this was all being tested on. That noisy photo, when put onto the web, is more than good enough. But for a print? I think that the Nikon z7 is good enough for printing large at ISO 6400.”
Buy Now: Amazon
